Shatter
by OrbitalSmurf
Summary: Excalibur/ Valkyr-centric short fic.
1. Chapter 1

**It has been a long time since a wrote something and this story had been bumping around in my scatter brained head for a long time.**

He had expected it to bad. Excalibur hesitated slightly before placing an armored foot amongst the rubble. Aside from the spastic flickering of sparks flying from a torn cable the room was almost pitch black. The small cone of light projected from his lex side arm displayed a grim image. The ceiling had partially collapsed in this section of the labs, steel panels warped and mangled by their fall. Here and there wires sparked and crackled, the tenno stepping carefully around each one as he advanced through the darkness. His finger rubbed nervously against the safety of the pistol, torso turning as he swept the room one last time before stepping into a long since defunct elevator shaft. Energy flowed through his warframe, legs tightening before sending him to the next floor, the Excalibur landing with the silence of a practiced assassin.

Although this floor was just as dark as the previous one the signs of destruction were far more evident. A blast door, the entrance to the main hallway had been stripped from its hinges, the thick metal shredded and tossed aside as if it was merely a paper construct, easily toppled by a light rain. The cone of light swept the mangled hall way before moving onward, Excalibur stopping halfway to raise a scanning device to the general area of his eyes. He removed it as though any sudden movements might startle some great beast lurking in the darkness, his lex once again raised and guided him to the next elevator shaft. This one was still in order, the lights revealing the tawny color of accumulated dirt from numerous missions as well as the lanka sniper rifle and heat dagger magnetized to his back. She had always teased him about that. The Excalibur who can't use a sword. He had given up arguing a long time ago. A slight grin tugged at his normally battle weary face as the elevator opened its doors granting him a view of the first of many production levels. His lex left his thigh as he slunk across the open catwalk spanning the now abandoned corpus robotics plant. At one point it had been the personal lab of, depending on who one asked, either a visionary or a mad man. Now though it was little more than a pile of scraps waiting to collapse on anyone foolish enough to enter it. Excalibur considered Alad V distinctly in the mad man category, despite Vauban's ravings on the Zanuka's mechanical perfection and his own personal attachment to a product of the labs. Product was an ill-fitting word. Victim conveyed the situation much better.

Perhaps she had always seemed fragile to him. Then again most everything seemed fragile from behind the scope of a lethal corpus-made coil gun. Now though she just seemed broken, like a beautiful vase shattered against the unfeeling ground. Her orange clad shoulders shook occasionally, the Valkyr emitting a small sniffle before the room was returned to silence. The sight of it all made Excalibur want to turn away and be by her side comforting her at the same time. He opted for neither, the click of his lex magnetizing to his leg piercing the still air for a moment as he watched her from a safe distance. "Ex?" His mouth opened slightly before shutting again, words failing to form in his throat. She reached up, hands slowly removing her helmet, blonde hair flowing down as she reached for something at her waist. "I'm sorry…" She brought the khomak level with her temple, eyes shutting as Excalibur reached for his own side arm.

He always had been faster. The first shot sent the shotgun skidding across the floor of the laboratory, Excalibur unloading his clip into the mangled weapon as he closed the distance between the elevator and the kneeling tenno. Reaching her he dropped to his knees, arms encircling her in a tight embrace. "Ex… I-"

"You're ok Val. Everything's going to be ok."


	2. Chapter 2

**Something with this story just kept coming back to me and since I haven't written much of anything in about half a year I figured I might as well write an extension to this**

Valkyr watched the sleek lisets and mantises docking in the hangar, her partner standing silently off to her side. "Val-" She raised a single armored hand, Excalibur's jaw clamping shut. She knew what he wanted to say. She was ashamed of herself. Tenno, especially ruthless, monstrous tenno didn't have "moments of weakness". Closing her eyes the Valkyr inhaled deeply, Excalibur shifting slightly. Why couldn't she be more like the sniper? Excalibur had never had a weak moment in his life. It was Excalibur that saved their rookie squad from the Grustag Three, Leekter in particular retaining a searing hatred for the cold, calculated sniper. In the process the tenno had lost his right arm, corpus technology replacing it at a slight reduction in swordsmanship, the metal arm slower and clumsier than the one he had lost. Over the years since then the clan's Vauban had made various improvements, Trinity even managing to coax the technocyte virus along his ferrite arm, allowing the Excalibur full use of his abilities though he never used a sword again, much to her amusement. _I wonder if I rip off my arm will I be like him?_ She grinned for a moment at the ridiculous idea, a soft click preceding his advancement towards her. "If you want to talk-"

"No, Ex I just want to be left alone." The sniper stood still for a moment as if about to say something before nodding his head and leaving Valkyr to her thoughts.

It never ceased to amaze her that Excalibur had refused a silencer on any of his rifles, the thunderous crack of each shot resounding through the dojo's firing range. At least it made sneaking up on him easier.

Another sharp pull followed the Vectis sniper rifle's roar, Excalibur spitefully reloading as new targets whirred past his segment of the range. A sharp intake, his finger teased the trigger slightly, the tenno built rifle rocking forcefully backwards as a target erupted into splinters downrange. Half way through reloading the sniper froze. The claws she always forgot about dug into his chest slightly, causing him to wince. Valkyr's helmet rested gently on his shoulder. "Sorry."

Excalibur shifted slightly, his orange-clad partner stirring at the sudden movement. The two made an odd pair, a cold mechanical sniper and a rage-fueled mad science experiment curled up together on a bench. Excalibur's left arm was placed protectively over Valkyr's form, Valkyr pressed up against him with her golden hair draped over his shoulder, a smile on her face for the first time in months. In truth the metal warframe he wore was almost frigid and coated in its customary tawny layer of 'camouflage' but she didn't mind, the companionship was more than enough. "Talking's overrated." His helmet pressed gently against her cheek.


	3. Chapter 3

**Welp it's been 2 years. Yeah... Girlfriend, jobs, college, etc have been a real cramp on any writing but since I'm on break and grinding my way through Warframe's new terminals (I just want to play the War Within T-T) I got in the mood to write more of this. Hopefully I'm not too rusty...**

Valkyr's cracked lips parted in a smile as she stepped into the cool water of one of the local jungle's many rivers. The thin layer of metal and synthetic material separating her from the water kept her dry but without her shields active she felt the refreshing cold just as well as if her warframe was non-existent. Giggling uncharacteristicaly she swept her hand through the water, startling the strange silvered fish native to Earth's streams. For a moment she lay back in the soft pull of the river, relaxing for the first time since their deployment. A jarring metallic clank brought her back to reality. Servos whined as her partner forced his arm to move somewhat smoothly again, the speed loader it had been holding dropping from the hand in a distorted tangle of crumpled metal.

Excalibur watched her step softly from the river, the quiet string of curses intertwined with his breathing turning to silent shame. She gently placed a hand on the metal pistons hidden under the armor of his right arm. Valkyr held his gaze, Excalibur's helmet turning away after a couple seconds.

"It's fine, Val." She let her hand slip down to his, the orange-clad warframe tugged slightly, Excalibur yielding, his metal hand still splayed as though afraid that her hand might share the same fate as the speed loader.

He was downright awkward in the water, right arm raised above it in a manner that clearly displayed a fear of rusting, Valkyr's arm similarly positioned to keep hold of his hand as she guided her partner further towards the middle of the stream. "Afraid of the water?" Excalibur tensed as a fish swam between the intruders in it's domain, Valkyr finding herself a good bit closer to the sniper than she had been. She smirked, suppressing a laugh at his reaction to the harmless creature. The smirk faded as she recalled a particular solo mission on Uranus Vauban had told her about. Of course the engineer had been boasting about Excalibur's arm but all she heard was how he didn't say a word for weeks afterward. Immediately she felt a pang of guilt, Excalibur shivering slightly as she circled her arms around him.

Seeing Excalibur so scared was something she had never imagined. Knowing she had caused it was mortifying. It had taken a few minutes for the sniper's breathing to return to normal, the white-clad warframe fidgeting with his lex as she cared for her own gear. Slowly he got to his feet. "How much did Vauban tell you?" Valkyr stiffened.

"Ex, I-" He closed the distance between them and sat down, the white-clad warframe inhaling deeply.

"It's ok Val, you didn't mean to." A grim smile tugged at the corner's of Excalibur's mouth. "It's been almost a year and I still wake up some nights grasping for that archwing, praying those...those _things_ don't find me in the dark." Valkyr's head drooped slightly. "Without you I wouldn't have made it an eighth of the way I did." She turned towards him as her partner rested his helmet on her shoulder, hand finding her's as their fingers intertwined. "Thank you, Val."

It was their last night on Earth, the sniper sleeping peacefully as Valkyr drew lazy circles in the tawny dirt across his chest. From the little hideaway it almost seemed that all the fighting was just a bad dream, the stars twinkling overhead in patches between the giant trees native to the planet. Excalibur shifted slightly, his metal arm finding her shoulder and resting gently on it. She smiled, nestling her helmet against the now oddly patterned tawny armor. "Thank you, Excalibur."


	4. Chapter 4

**Well it's about time I took the "complete" tag off this, what are we 4 chapters in now? Complete my arse...**

Valkyr swore, security hacking had never been a strong suit of hers. She could hear the corpus crewmen and walkers sprinting down the corridors of the ship getting closer, yet the terminal was no closer to being accessed.

As the crewmen rounded the last corner they were met with a ball of glowing rage and claws. Blue plasma lit the hallway, the lethal energy bolts striking armored environment suits and chrome metal as much as orange armor. The last few turned tail as the unit's tech was ripped apart, the metal exoskeleton within his environment suit becoming a makeshift weapon of torture as the tenno skewered the man within on a fractured part of his supposed protection and left him to die gasping for his comrades. Those who had run were soon faced with sealed blast doors in front of them and a gore soaked warframe behind them. Within moments only one remained.

Valkyr hauled the whimpering corpus grunt up by his suit and tossed him headlong into the prison complex. In a panic the crewman scrabbled desperately away from the clawed monster, Valkyr, slashing the lighting controls as she advanced to skewer his leg with a claw and wrench his head back in the other hand. Hacking did have multiple meanings after all.

He had never heard a warframe speak before. She brought her head close to the thin metal protecting his from her claws, searing energy cutting ferrite until it scorched flesh. "Open them." His first instinct was to shake his head no. She made certain it hurt. Again the warframe hissed the same two words, the claw that had been embedded in his leg slowly drawing itself from his flesh and gesturing menacingly to the blood-splattered console. Between sobs of pain he tried desperately to reason with her, the asymmetric helmet's gaze boring into him before his head rocketed down to meet chrome metal, the crewman's helmet cracking as a thick foam deployed to reduce damage to his neck. She lifted him and draped his arm onto the console, repeating the words for the third time, a single claw pressing lightly against his back. Through the haze of pain he finally agreed.

Excalibur hadn't expected a rescue so soon. Silently he waited as the alarms sounded, a thick cord pulled form the dark under suit the corpus had stripped the sniper to wound around his hands as he pressed himself against the front of his cell. Eventually he sat back down, resigned to whatever may come. As the screams and corpus fire continued he fiddled with his synthetic arm, the air of nonchalance possessed by a man who knows he's likely to die and has come to terms with the fact masking his growing unease. After a few minutes the stark blare of the alarms became the only sound in his minuscule, faded chrome cell. He waited for the hissing of gas or something else just as awful to mark his end, instead jolting to his feet as the door slid open. The mangled corpse of a crewman dropped to his feet, Excalibur stepping back as much as his confines would allow. As he looked up the cold metal of a warframe slammed him against the back of the cell.

Her armor was scarred and covered in gore, her chest heaving from ragged breathing and the occasional catch in her breath. Though Valkyr had dropped the crackling energy claws the sharp metal on her finger tips cut into his back as she held him against her. "Never, never do that again." his hands found her back and the two stood holding oneanother for a moment. "Ex...I-I..." She could feel the tears welling in her eyes and gave in, her cold helmet pressed against the sniper's chest.

"I love you, Val." For the briefest moment everything stopped.


	5. Chapter 5

**Long chapter just cause**

Alloy prosthetics clanked against the ground as flexible orokin metal paced quietly toward them. In the half light surrounding the combatants golden beams illuminated well-worn tawny armor as pale blue lights cast shadows across thick, muddy-colored alloy plates. "Tenno..." The clone rasped out the single word as though it were an insult, his voice laced with cruelty and malice as Leekter stared down his enemy.

"You're not the first." The sniper responded with a voice devoid of emotion, his own prosthetic reaching for the simple blade magnetized to his back. A sickly chuckle emanated from the clone's malformed helmet, Leekter charging forward, his heavy manticore axe skidding across the ground as he swung for the tenno's side. The heavy head of the weapon ripped past Excalibur, the tenno drawing his non customary weapon from his back and bringing it downward, gravity accelerating the skana as Leekter deflected the blow off his armored forearm, sparks flying as the more nimble tenno disengaged from his foe. Flourishing his blade the sniper extended his flesh and blood arm, the clone grinning under his helmet as the tenno flexed his fingers back towards himself in a universally understood taunt.

As the two clashed again neither backed off, their movements becoming an intricate and practiced dance of slashes, swings, parries, and dodges. Eventually Excalibur's arm began to falter, the aging gears and pistons seizing up as Leekter swung hard for the sniper's chest. It was all the tenno could do to bring his blade in front of the deadly axe and twist away as the battered skana flew from his weakened grasp. A smirk formed on the clone's face , the rush of sick anticipation turning to surprise as Excalibur launched into a series of spinning kicks interspersed with rapid blows, the assassin pushed back as shielded armor repeatedly crashed against the alloy shaft of Leekter's weapon with a fury and power rarely displayed by the sniper.

Leekter stumbled backwards, the marine glancing down at his ruined weapon before bellowing in rage, his arms shaking as he tore the weakened metal in half and tossed the detritus to the floor. Pistons surged and the multi-hundred pound mountain of alloy plate and muscle charged towards his smaller foe. Finesse clashed with raw might, the fact that two had been reduced to their fists and legs doing nothing to curb either's desire to kill the other. Excalibur weaved between the clone's blows until a grazing hit turned spin became a roundhouse, the clone buckling as the strike connected, the tenno pushing off the ground with his other leg and spinning his body, shielded metal crashing into the clone's head before Excalibur rolled over the clone, landing in a crouch a few feet from Leekter's reach. As the deformed monster reeled, Excalibur steadied his breathing.

The clone looked up, one helmet light cracked and flickering, its siblings burning with malice. Leekter charged with the force of an avalanche, arms outstretched to grasp and choke the life from his foe. Excalibur waited for a fraction of a moment, his legs spread in a low stance, the lights across his tawny armored igniting as the tenno pushed off with his back leg, azure light coalescing into a solid form, the clone stumbling and grasping his chest as Excalibur stood tall, a radiant blade of light illuminating the injured marine from behind. "And you won't be the last."

As Leekter turned to face the tenno pure energy carved through his left arm, the precision of a sniper married to the raw power of an exalted blade as Excalibur advanced on his foe. The second cut cleanly deprived the clone of his right arm, the third wave of energy severing the pistons within Leekter's right leg, forcing the clone to one knee. As the helpless clone roared defiance Excalibur spun, the tenno dropping low before bringing his blade up in a lethal arc, the point skewering the sniper's foe through the gut and driving Leekter into the air. For a moment the grineer gurgled and thrashed on the blade of light, his form beginning to falter and pull apart with a hissing noise, the specter dissipating as Excalibur dropped it onto the dueling room's floor. The sniper's shoulders slumped as he released the blade of light, the gears in his right arm whining in protest.

"Can't sleep? By the void your arm sounds awful, what did you do to my baby?" The sniper turned towards the door to find a middle aged man with a graying beard clothed in the tight under suit that lay beneath a warframe's armor. An undecorated white mug of steaming liquid cradled in one hand contrasted with a filthy rag draped over the man's shoulder, the cloth stained black with grease and oil. On his face was the grin of a man enjoying his own joke, his rosy complexion contributing to a jolly air about the engineer. The sniper nodded in his colleague's direction.

"Vauban." The engineer chuckled as Excalibur wrenched his arm into submission.

"Nova and I have been up all night. Why don't you come with me and we can take a look at that?" It was the sniper's turn to chuckle in mirth as he retrieved his battered sword.

The shared space for the clan's engineers was a constant mess of gadgets, tools, and spare parts, Vauban and his protege muttering to themselves and each other as they pried apart gears and metal framing battered by countless missions. The younger of the clan's technologically inclined duo Nova's hair had begun to gray from the stresses of her job within a month of her release from cryosleep. She sifted a hand through her hair, lubricant staining black streaks into her slivered hair. "Well we certainty aren't fixing this one anytime soon." Vauban nodded, his usually chipper visage clouded by a frown.

"In all honesty Excal, it would probably be quicker to just fabricate a new one." The senior engineer addressed his understudy as he riffled through some of the parts crowding one of the many work spaces within the laboratory. "Could you go power up reactor 3?" As Nova left the bearded tenno removed the sniper's old arm. "You're overdue for an upgrade anyway..."

Valkyr rolled over as he slid back under the covers, her hands exploring his upper body in the dark. She stopped when she reached his prosthetic arm. The ferrite ring where his shoulder should have started was still the same but where once pistons and gears had been barely concealed beneath thin, semi flexible metal plates now corded composites formed a shoulder matching his left in shape despite lacking the warmth of his flesh and blood arm. Smiling to herself she let her hand slip down the cold composite armor, mentally mapping its shape before draping his new arm over her shoulder and wrapping her arms around him. The sniper returned the gesture, Valkyr kissing his neck before closing her eyes. "Love you, Ex." The sniper smiled, his lips finding hers for a moment.

"Love you too, Val."


End file.
